


Back to where we started

by SakumiYukime



Series: Klangst Week 2018 [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Injury, Klangst Week 2018, M/M, Remember/Forget, The Author Regrets Nothing, klangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-06 21:59:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14066487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakumiYukime/pseuds/SakumiYukime
Summary: The blade of Marmora brings an unconscious Keith back to the castle, explaining that he had been hurt during a mission.The raven haired boy is immediately placed in a healing pod, and soon Coran announces he shouldn't be there for too long since his injuries don't seem too bad.But that was a week ago, and Keith isn't coming out of the pod.





	Back to where we started

Nostalgia.

That was the sentiment Lance felt every time he entered the room.

It was familiar, the soft background buzz from the working machines, or how the dim lights left a luminescent glow that surrounded him. And how, for some reason he could not discern, the place was always colder than the rest of the castle, making him shrink into his jacket as he sat there waiting.

His blue eyes were tired, so tired. And that was evident as he gazed to the cryopod in front of him, accepting how everything was so much blurrier than usual.

Lance had always been proud of his sharp vision, and of how his sight allowed him to make the most amazing shots happen like it was nothing. Sure there was a lot more to it than just his eyesight, but it was definitely a good start.

Since he could remember, his vision had always been exceptional. So much better than anyone else in his house. Lance couldn’t help but smile, as he remembered how his sister Veronica used to joke with him about it, saying he had ‘ _some crazy type of eagle vision’_ every time he mentioned or was able to read something that was just a giant blur to her.

But now he was so tired that he could barely see what was right in front of his eyes.

His head hurt as if sharp needles were piercing his skull.

Lance had tried to rest, laying in his bed for hours, staring at the ceiling. It was a mistake, only making him more aware of how tired he was while his brain screamed without ever shutting out. He really wanted to rest, but all the stress and fear was keeping wide awake.

On the verge of collapsing at any moment, but still, _awake_.

The teen tried to find a better position on the cold floor, moving slightly like the ground next to where he was sitting was more comfortable. He had been sitting there for long enough to have both legs numb and for his back to hurt. The blue paladin had wondered, more than a couple of times, why there weren’t any comfy sofas in the medical bay where the cryopods were. Because _that_ would’ve been a great idea, worthy of whatever genius intellect had built the castle ship.  

Lance sighed, eyes slowly lifting to gaze at the pod in front of him.

Keith was inside it. His skin seemed paler than usual, which made him look dead rather than alive. Lance found some relief in the way his chest seemed to rise and fall, and how the air he exhaled in his sleep blurred the glass-like interior of the pod.

The other paladin had been inside the cryopod for almost a week after what happened. Coran came to the room various times throughout the day, checking the monitors and making sure everything was ok. He would normally talk to Lance if he was there, explaining the readings he was getting, while the paladin nodded like he was understanding everything that was being said. Sometimes he actually did. Sometimes he could barely focus on keeping his eyes open while Coran talked.

Lance did remember all the times Coran had mentioned Keith should leave the pod soon, but the red paladin never did.

The first time it had happened Lance hadn’t worried too much about it. Coran had tried to explain why that could have happened, but Lance couldn’t focus during most of the detailed explanation. He figured it wasn’t something unusual. None of the others seemed to be worried about it, so why should he?

But now. Now Lance was starting to worry, unable to shake away the feeling that something was very wrong. 

Just like him, the other paladins visited throughout the day many times, especially Shiro, but that was only to be expected.

Shiro.

Lance internally groaned just from thinking about him.

Shiro had been really hard to deal with lately. Lance couldn’t blame him, he really couldn't. They all had their share of bullshit to deal with. But man, more often than not, Lance just found himself between Shiro and a yell.

He wasn’t stupid. He knew perfectly well Shiro felt guilty for what had happened to Keith. In a way, all of them did. Lance was perfectly aware that having Keith away, having him stay with the blades, had been a big blow to all of them. 

No one ever mentioned on it. But he knew better.

Keith was headstrong and they knew there was no changing his mind when he settled on something.

That was probably the reason why none of them had ever asked him to stay or come back. It would have been selfish. Keith was content with his job as a blade, participating in more and more missions. Suddenly ask him to stop doing those, tell him to come back to the team, would just be wrong.

So they kept quiet. No one mentioned it. It almost like a forbidden topic. Keith was happy, and it wasn’t their place to interfere.

But then, Kolivan messaged them, informing that Keith had been hurt in a fight. Shiro was the first one to speak, immediately requesting if it was ok to have him heal in the castle. Lance knew the leader of the blade had read the atmosphere, nodding as he accepted Shiro's request.

There was a common thought in the room on that day, hanging above all their heads, constantly bugging them.

They should have talked more to him. Called him. Tell him they missed and to be careful.

Being used to have death come for them and constantly escape it, made them forget out how close it lingered.

Felt like it would never happen. It never does. They always make it. 

But now, they were forced to open their eyes. Forced to realize that it was something so certain. 

And every moment that took him to leave the pod, made that knowledge sink deeper.

No one really knew when he would come out. Why was it taking so long? No one really understood what was happening. If Keith was truly ok like the altean technology affirmed he was.

So, it wasn’t surprising that everyone had just been a bit too over the edge in the past few days.

And that meant, that pretty much every time Shiro entered a room, Lance was ready to leave. He’d rather avoid the questions he could see Shiro wanted to ask him.

Everyone did.

Hunk was the one that had gotten closer to it, asking if something had happened. Lance hadn’t quite picked what he meant by that until his friend elaborated. He understood too late that Hunk was asking him why he was so worried about Keith. Sure they had been getting along lately, but not ‘this along’.

The problem was that, yeah, they had really been getting ‘this along’ lately.

When Lance found out that Keith had tried to sacrifice himself to save them on Narcella, for the first time since he had gone to space, he had felt the floor disappear from under his feet. When he saw Keith again, he punched him harder than he ever had.

The other teen hadn’t been expecting it, he didn’t dodge and barely managed to react before Lance’s fist was glued to his face. He almost growled, looking as angry as he was shocked.

There were tears and screams, but in the end, Lance had somehow managed to make Keith understand how he important he was to him. How much he wanted him to live.

It was the first time Lance had seen Keith cry.

He talked more to Keith after that, even though he remained in the blades.

Lance would text him or send him video messages talking about the team, and what they were up to. Keith replied to most of them, which made them grown closer to each other, even though they were galaxies apart.

The blue paladin never pressured Keith to come back. He couldn’t.

He was happy to talk to him outside the information sharing messages or the video chats to plan missions. He was happy with whatever relationship they had going on.

Content to see Keith laugh at his jokes, and apologize for not answering the messages when he was on a mission.

He was glad to be able to see Keith smile, the corners of his mouth softly rising before he said goodbye.

Lance was brought back from his thoughts by the familiar sound of the pod. The beep was extremely familiar, indicating that soon the glassy material would shatter, allowing the person inside to leave.

He could barely keep the smile off his face, so grateful to finally be with Keith again. The paladin made sure to call the bridge, his voice ringing cheerfully through the coms as he warned everyone that Keith was waking up. The excitement from his teammates was clearly noticeable, voices sounding relieved and surprised.

The teen made his way closer to the healing pod, shifting to catch Keith in his arms when came stumbling out of it.

His heartbeat picked up in his chest, and Lance couldn’t help but flirt with him slightly, now that he knew everything was ok, “Hey there, sleeping beauty…” His voice came out softer than he was expecting, but somehow, Lance wasn’t even surprised.

Keith looked at him, eyes foggy and eyebrow raised. He looked so confused and lost, pouting slightly, as he tried to take in his surroundings.

Lance was so relieved to have him in his arms again, feel his hands on his skin, hear the beating of his heart and see the light behind his eyes. He was so scared and afraid they had lost him.

Afraid _he_ had lost him.

But he hadn’t. Keith was right there, save and in his arms.

The black hair boy suddenly tried to pull back, his heartbeat speeding up against Lance’s skin. He gave him some space, without ever letting go. Lance could see the panic in Keith’s gorgeous eyes. He knew exactly how it felt. How stressful it was to come out of a pod when the last thing you could remember before being unconscious was the fight you had been losing, the pain from the blows you had endured, and the heaviness of your body resigning to his fate and shutting down against your will.

It was nerve-wracking to wake up after all that, frightening to realize you’re not in the same place, that something happened.

“Hey… Hey…” Lance spoke softly, trying to get his attention without startling him, “It’s ok. Everything is ok now…” Keith body relaxed slightly against him, and Lance smiled holding him closer, “You’re ok. No one is going to hurt you.”

Keith looked at him, brows frowning and lips slightly open. Lance does his best not to kiss him right there. The raven haired boy recoils, something suddenly filling with distress, “Who-”

He goes quiet looking towards the door that had just opened, allowing the others to enter the room. Lance can almost see the excitement radiating from them. In the way they smiled, how their feet picked up the pace, how they approached them. It was familiar, and it was somehow calming in its own way.

Yet, Keith seemed to tense in his arms, looking at them with wide eyes. Lance felt his stomach drop at Keith's unusual reaction. Even if he was surprised and alarmed, confused as he came out of the pod, he should have realized what was happening by now. He should be relaxing, resting in his arms comfortably.

“Keith?” Blue eyes looked at him, trying to understand what was wrong with him. His hand rose to cup his face softly, hoping to get his attention, to have Keith’s eyes on him, looking softly with a smile on his lips.

But the boy in his arms wasn’t looking at him. His gaze was glued to the door, eyes filled with surprised, but somehow relieved. Lance saw how all of his fears melted into a soft and sweet smile.

The brightness in his eyes was back, finally returning since he had woken up.

He looked relieved, happier than Lance had ever seen him. His breath came out lazily, and it was so clear that his heart was speeding up.

As the blue paladin looked to the door, head moving slowly as he refused to lift his gaze from Keith, the boy spoke. “Shiro…?”

His voice was soft. So soft. Weak and there had definitely been a small crack in it.

That word, the way it had come out of Keith’s mouth, the way his smile followed. All of that, somehow, made Lance go still.

“Keith, buddy. You’re ok.” Lance heard Hunk from the other side of the room. But Keith wasn’t looking at him. He knew. Keith wasn’t even listening to him. He knew.

His eyes were on Shiro and Shiro alone like he hadn’t seen him in years. It reminded Lance of the time their leader had disappeared. How Keith had been so scared and lost.

Now, it was like he had finally found what he had been always looking for.

Lance heard him sniff, both his shoulders rising with the noise. He wasn’t paying attention to anything else. “I- It’s really you. Shiro?” 

The weight was removed from Lance's body as Keith walked to their black paladin, but somehow he only felt heavier.

“They,” There was a hiccup as Keith rushed to him, ignoring everything in the room, “They said you were dead. But I knew it was a lie.”

Lance could see the confusion on Shiro’s face. He didn’t deny Keith the hug, but he remained tense, as the smaller boy hid his face in his chest. “They said you died on Kerberos!” His voice was muffled.

But they all heard him.

“I knew it wasn’t true. I knew you had survived.” Keith never let go of him. It was obvious he was trying to keep his voice from cracking, but he was failing terribly.

Lance saw Pidge freeze in his camp of vision. His smaller friend's body completely still as she looked at them.

He looked away, unable to witness another second of it.

It felt like he was prying at something he wasn’t supposed to see. The way Keith looked at Shiro, smiling so softly. How he fitted so perfectly in his arms as he hugged him.

The raven haired boy looked so happy, and every second he smiled left Lance empty.

He didn’t want to hear him cry, muffled sobs and he looked at Shiro for answers.

It was just too much.

Lance walked out the door, clenching his hands into fists as he walked out of the room, he focused on the way his nails pierced the skin and not on the smile on Keith’s face.

He wasn’t a genius like Pidge, but he didn’t need to be one to figure this one out. It was clear.

There.

Right in front of his eyes.

Keith had forgotten everything.

 

_Keith had forgotten him._


End file.
